Mohegan — Samson Reilly, sidelined by a broken left foot as of Valentine’s Day last season, was cleared to play for the East Catholic boys’ basketball team two days prior to the CIAC Division I state championship against Notre Dame of West Haven.

Then a sophomore, Reilly played for a minute and promptly rebroke his foot.

So while Monday’s matchup in The Day Holiday Classic at Mohegan Sun Arena was a rematch of that championship game — a 50-49 victory and seventh overall title for East Catholic — there was a little bit of a different sense of anticipation for Reilly.

“I was definitely hungry going into the game, no doubt,” Reilly said. “It’s no state championship, but still ...”

East Catholic trailed by as many as eight points in the second quarter of Monday’s game, but came back for a 62-50 victory over Notre Dame in the first game of a three-game set at Mohegan Sun — more Rivalry Week than Holiday Classic.

Reilly had 24 points, 15 in the second half, for East Catholic (3-0), the top-ranked team in the GameTimeCT Top 10 poll.

The Eagles, seemingly on their heels for much of the first half, sprinted to an 18-0 run to start the third quarter, taking the lead for good against No. 2 Notre Dame (1-1).

Preston Fowler added 14 points for East Catholic and James Jones had 11. Mekhi Conner had 16 points to lead Notre Dame.

“He was all in, don’t get me wrong,” East Catholic coach Luke Reilly, Samson’s father, said of last year’s state championship game. “When he was 8 years old, he said to me, ‘Dad, when we win it together, I’m going to tackle you at halfcourt,’ and he actually did that with his bad foot.

“To have him come out here (Monday) and be able to do that, good for him. ... It’s awesome being here. It’s a world-class venue. It’s every high school guy’s dream to play in this arena. What an opportunity for our guys. To be able to get out of here with a win, too, wow, I’m happy for everybody.”

Notre Dame led for nearly the entire first half, holding a 17-11 edge after one quarter and 29-26 at halftime behind 12 points from Conner.

East Catholic unleashed its 18-0 run to start the second half, however, reversing the momentum from a three-point deficit to a 44-29 lead. Rob Elliott began the dominant stretch with a putback and Fowler added two free throws to give the Eagles a 30-29 lead before a four-point play from Reilly.

Notre Dame took two timeouts during the frenzy. After the first timeout, with 5:12 in the quarter, the Green Knights turned the ball over. East Catholic then scored three additional baskets, the latter two also coming off Notre Dame turnovers.

Notre Dame took another timeout to talk things over at the 2:45 mark.

Luke Reilly said having a veteran team made it easier for East Catholic to make the adjustments needed at halftime.

“We always say it’s a player-led program. They were willing to make adjustments. They were able to speak honestly with each other, clean up some things they knew we needed to do differently,” Luke Reilly said. “You’ve just got to adjust to what’s happening on the court.

“No two games are the same. You’ve just got to adjust to how it unfolds. We were able to do that today. It was fun to watch.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com